What will be your entry in the books of history?
Now perhaps it’s a silly question because most people will be forgotten in the annals of history. And there’s nothing wrong with that. And a thousand years, should the world still stand, nothing we do here will matter, outside of how we acted in relation to our God.
However, on the off chance that there is one small line said about you in a book of history, wouldn’t you want that to be a positive note? Or would you even care?
I’m not saying there’s a right or wrong answer. Some of the more old-school style thinkers would want you to establish your name throughout history through assorted virtuous actions. And that’s fine and good, just remember that the only problem with the legacy is that you’re dead.
The only point of establishing a legacy is to alleviate the guilt you feel in the present for not leaving one. People feel negatively while they are alive about how they will be viewed when they are dead.
In that sense, it almost seems like a little bit too much to worry about during our brief lifetime.
However, just to learn a lesson from history, if there were to be a note written about you, it would be likely that you wouldn’t want it to be a negative one.
Well, there was a negative note left about the Nobles in the days of Nehemiah. The Bible takes a valuable line to let us know that the Nobles did not put their shoulders to the work of the Lord.
There was work to be done for good, and they chose not to do it. And that choice of action Echoes throughout history.
It’s true even today, as we are very aware of people who would rather not work and do those things they know they must do. [But truly, the majority of us would ‘rather not work’ if we had the choice – but we have a duty to live out and it involves work]. And we know this is especially true when it comes to nobility. Particularly nobility that has not earned their nobility, but has had it handed down from generations.
People who earn their power and wealth are generally much different than those who have it handed down to them. It’s honorable to build yourself up power and wealth in this world. And don’t let anyone tell you you can’t be a Christian and be successful and wealthy because you can.
Just make sure that while you’re successful and wealthy, you still take a little time to put your shoulder to the work of the Lord.
Continue Reading: Hard Work is not painful work.
“Next to them the Tekoites made repairs; but their nobles did not put their shoulders to the work of their Lord”.
Nehemiah 3:5
The Bible takes great care in Nehemiah 3 to tell us about everyone who is working in the city of Jerusalem, In this instance concerning the walls that were broken down. But in all the examples of people who worked, to repair, defend, and rebuild that city of Jerusalem, we have the lesson that the Nobles did not put their shoulders to the work of the Lord.
What a shameful Legacy to leave. And in their defense, they are dead. They could probably care less about their legacy. With some of them enjoying their reward and some suffering punishment, as is the normal delineation of human beings in the afterlife. But I would suppose that even those who are enjoying their reward would prefer to go back and have this element of their history blotted out.
A legacy of laziness is not the name that anyone would want to leave on this earth after they die. But it’s the name that the Nobles of Nehemiah 3 left.
If you have an opportunity to put your shoulders to the work of the lord, do it, even if it’s in a small, seemingly insignificant way.
But beyond that, do not forget to hold fast to your daily disciplines: reading the scriptures [try Nehemiah 3], praying, and obeying the statutes and Commandments of God. Holding the line of discipline against a culture of worldliness.
Do not let your legacy be that of these men
